Device for wiring solderless connector terminal blocks

ABSTRACT

A wire setting tool for inserting a wire into a slit type contact on an electrical terminal block, including a housing which encloses a power driven piston connected to an extendable shaft. The end of the shaft is bifurcated forming a slot and is arranged to straddle the thickness of a contact. The device is positioned over a contact with the wire held across the shaft slot so that as the shaft is extended the wire is inserted into the slit of contact. The housing can be provided with a plurality of parallel shafts which are extendable in unison and spaced to engage a plurality of contacts so that a number of wires can be set simultaneously.

United States Patent [19] Shirley DEVICE FOR WIRING SOLDERLESS CONNECTOR TERMINAL BLOCKS Inventor: Edward E. Shirley, 1510 South King Street, Denver, Colo. 80219 Filed: Oct. 28, 1971 Appl. No.: 193,343

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,168,750 2/1965 Gattiker,Jr. ..29/203H Primary Examiner-Thomas l-l. Eager Attorney-Richard D. Law

[57} ABSTRACT A wire setting tool for inserting a wire into a slit type contact on an electrical terminal block, including a housing which encloses a power driven piston connected to an extendable shaft. The end of the shaft is bifurcated forming a slot and is arranged to straddle the thickness of a contact. The device is positioned over a contact with the wire held across the shaft slot so that as the shaft is extended the wire is inserted into the slit of contact. The housing can be provided with a plurality of parallel shafts which are extendable in unison and spaced to engage a plurality of contacts so that a number of wires can be set simultaneously.

7 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDIMY 22 I975 FIGIO FIG. 6

FIG.4

INVENTOR EDWARD R. SHIRLEY BY FIG.8 FIG.9

DEVICE FOR WIRING SOLDERLESS CONNECTOR TERMINAL BLOCKS The communications industry, in recent years, has installed blocks of terminals for telephone and other communication lines, wherein hundreds of lines may be connected in the terminal blocks mounted in a panel. These blocks are called QC" blocks for quick connect terminal blocks. Such blocks are preferably plastic units into which are mounted a plurality of rows of metal terminals, each having a bifurcated end to accept a wire and an opposite needle end to be accepted into the connectors of a female block. These terminal blocks have been heretofore wired by hand, where wires are placed on the bifurcated end and a hand tool forces the wire, by pressure of the operators hand, into the slit of the bifurcated end. On moving into the slit,

the insulation on the wire is cut providing a good electrical connection, and the spring detent action of the terminal end securely holds the wire in place.

Considerable pressure must be exerted on the hand tool to force the wire into place in the terminal, and after several hours the operator is fatigued. Also, the operator naturally exerts different pressures at different times. It is, therefore, a tedious and sometimes very inaccurate operation. Placing a wire on each terminal, particularly when the terminal is in the center of a very large group of closely spaced similar terminals is at best haphazard. This not infrequently causes misconnections, creating a problem of repair immediately after assembly.

According to the present invention there is provided a power tool for wiring connector terminal blocks, which is accurate, fast and saves manual labor. The unit consists (in one form it is pneumatically powered) of a pistol grip cylinder having a piston which selectively advances or retracts a plurality of shafts. Each shaft is bifurcated and arranged to telescope over a portion of the end of a terminal, and each carries a wire which is forced into the slit of a bifurcated metal terminal. The tool applies uniform pressure on each terminal wire, with very little pressure required by the operator to hold the tool in position, and thereby accurately set each wire in a terminal block connector.

Included among the objects and advantages of the present invention is a device for connecting multiple wires in a quick connect terminal block.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which accurately andeasily connects telephone type wires to terminals in a quick connect block by a powered mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a solderless connecting device for insulated wires connecting the same in a QC block.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device for concurrently setting a plurality of wires in a connecting terminal device and thereafter utilizing power to force the wires into the bifurcated terminals, each with a uniform pressure.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a pneumatically powered device for setting wires into bifurcated terminals whereby each wire is placed in a terminal under equal pressure and auniform distance in the slit of the bifurcated terminal.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended illustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofa tool according to the invention, mounted in a pistol grip actuator;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a two shaft wiring tool according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a two shaft unit;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 3 at thereto;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the housing for the shafts of the device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is another side elevational view of the housing of FIG. 5 taken at 90 thereto;

FIG. 7 is an end elevational view of the housing of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged end view of a two shaft head;

FIG. 9 is an end view of a four shaft head;

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective of a portion of a quick connect terminal block illustrating one wire in position in a terminal;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of a double terminal; and

FIG. 12 is a top plane view of the device of FIG. 11.

In the device selected for illustration, a pneumatic type actuator is used for the tool, however various other types of actuators may be used, for example, an electrical actuator using an eccentric, a solenoid type actuator, a hydraulic piston, or the like may be used as an actuator. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a pistol grip 10 has a cylinder 12 integrally mounted therewith and a conventional trigger mechanism 14 provides means for releasing air under pressure from an inlet 16 to the inside of the cylinder behind a piston 18, to drive the piston forward against a piston head 20. A helical spring 22 around a piston rod 17 provides return power on release of the air pressure from behind the cylinder, such gun being a commercially available unit. The piston 18 is provided with an O-ring seal 19 for a reciprocating seal of the piston in the cylinder.

A connector head 24 provides means for supporting a head support 26. A tool head 28 is mounted in the holder 26 by conventional means, explained below.

The two shaft, tool head housing 28, FIG. 2, includes a tapered end 30 having a face 32 generally perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder portion of the housing, and a pair of bores 34 and 36 extending therethrough. The bores 34 and 36 communicate with a large circular bore 38 into which a shaft support 40 reciprocates. A pair of shafts 42 and 44 include bifurcated ends 43 and 45 respectively. Each bifurcated end includes a slot which is wide enough to fit over flat metal connector terminals, explained below. Each of the shafts include a small bore in one side of the bifurcated end, and bore 46 is provided in one side of the end of the shaft 42 and the bore 48 is provided in the end of the shaft 44. A threaded aperture 50 provides means for attaching the head 40 to the piston rod 17 and thereby provide reciprocable movement of the shafts in the head 28. The shafts 42 and 44 respectively telescope in the bores 34 and 36 and are arranged to reciprocate therein.

One form ofconnection between the head 28 and the holder 26 involves a ring on the head 28 and shoulder arrangement internally of the holder 26. In this case, a ring 27 on the housing abuts a shoulder at the mouth of the tube 26 securing the head therein when the support tube 26 is attached to the head 24. As shown in the detail in FIG. 7, the shafts mounted in the head 28 include the bifurcated ends 43 and the end 45 which reciprocate in the head and extend beyond the head a predetermined distance when the piston is in extended position in the cylinder.

In using the two shaft tool of the invention, a pair of wires to be placed in terminals are positioned with their ends in the holes 46 and 48 and bent back across the shafts and the face 32 of the tool. The end of the tool head is then placed with its face 32 on terminals 60 and 62, shown in FIG. with the wires in the notch on top of each terminal. The piston is then actuated by depressing the trigger 14. The shafts 42 and 44 are extended outwardly from the head pushing the wires in the slits in the terminal connectors, for example the slit 61 in the terminal 60 and the slit 63 in the terminal 62. The terminals are metal and are made with a very narrow slit in the end forming a bifurcated end. Each terminal is provided with a notch in its end. For example, terminal 66 is provided with'a slit 67 (held closed by spring action) into which a wire 70 may be placed, and a notch 68 provides a resting place for the wire prior to the wire being forced into the slit. The wire forces the ends of the terminal apart permitting the wire to slide into the slit. The telephone wire is insulated, and its movement into the slit cuts some of the insulation forming a metal to metal contact between the end of the terminal connector and the wire. The opposite end 69 of the terminal 66 is a needle connector which is arranged to fit in a female block. In this manner, two wires may be placed in the terminals at the same time. The tool is arranged to sit with the face of the housing 32 on the terminal connectors, and the shafts move outwardly setting the wires into the terminals an exact distance and under the same pressure each time. In a terminal block with several thousand of such terminals lined up in close fitting rows, the positioning of the wires into the terminals is very easily and quickly accomplished with the tool of the invention. In each case, the insulated wire is placed in the hole in the shaft and the wire is bent back over the face of the tool so that the wire fits in the notch in the terminal ready for movement of the bifurcated shaft end over the terminal. The shafts are bifurcated so that each side of the shaft passes on opposed sides of the terminal which easily forces the wire into the slit without cutting or breaking the wire and providing a uniform distance and a uniform pressure of forcing the wire into the terminals.

In some terminal blocks, double wires are used, and for this purpose a pair of contacting terminals, shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, are placed side by side by slightly staggered in terminal blocks, similar to that shown in FIG. 10. In this case, a terminal connector 74 is placed adjacent a terminal connector 75, and as pointed out above, each terminal connector includes a notch and a slit, for example slit 76 in terminal connector 74, and slit 77 in the terminal connector 75. The terminal connectors are the same type as those shown in FIG. 10, however they are placed differently in a terminal block. To provide for this feature, a wire setting tool includes four shafts, in a head, and the tool housing must, of course, be provided with four bores. For example, the housing 80 of FIG. 9 is provided with bores 81 and 82 in which shafts with bifurcated ends 83 and 84 are reciprocally mounted respectively. The shaft 83 is provided with its wire holding bore 85 and the shaft 84 is provided with a similar bore 86. The bores are staggered to fit over the adjacent terminal connectors shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and a corner of each shaft is cut off from one side of the bifurcated end of the shafts to fit over the adjacent connector blocks. In this case the cut-outs 88 and 89 are in the shafts 83 and 84 respectively. This permits the bifurcated end of each of the shafts to pass down over the adjacent connector terminals without binding on the overlapped edges. The lower two bores are provided with similar shafts. This particular tool is used in the same manner except that four wires are placed in the head, and the wires passed back over the shafts and the face of the head. The head is then placed on top of the two pairs of terminals with the wires in the notches of the terminals. On activation of the cylinder, the wires are pressed into the slits in a similar manner to that described for FIG. 10.

The unit has been described for wiring shafts for 2 terminals and 2 sets of double terminals, however, it is obvious that the tool may be made with as many shafts as deemed desirable to provide wiring for as many terminals or sets as deemed desirable. In some instances, it may be desirable to have a single shaft for providing a single wiring connector for the terminal. This uses a single shaft in the head. Such a shaft as described for FIG. 3 is satisfactory.

What is claimed is:

1. A wire setting device for solderless quick-connect terminals comprising:

a. An elongated housing having a flat surface at one end thereof,

b. at least one reciprocable member arranged in said housing for slidable, normal movement through said surface,

0. power means for moving said member from a retracted position within said housing to a position having one end extended beyond said surface,

(I. the extendable end of said reciprocable member being bifurcated for straddling portion of a terminal when moved to the extended position, and

e. means for holding a wire across the bifurcated end of said member whereby when the flat surface is seated against the end of the terminal and the member is moved to the extended position the wire will be inserted into the terminal to provide a solderless connection.

2. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein two reciprocable members are mounted in said body.

3. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein four reciprocable members are mounted in said body.

4. A wire setting device according to claim 3 wherein said four reciprocable members are arranged in two pairs.

5. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein said holding means includes a bore in one leg of said bifurcated end, said bore being sized to fit the wire so that the wire can be inserted therein and bent across said bifurcated end.

6. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein said power means includes a piston-cylinder means and a power source, said power source being controllably connected to said piston-cylinder means for actuating said means.

7. A wire setting device according to claim 1 which further includes means for limiting the slidable movement of the member whereby the wire is inserted a predetermined distance into the terminal when the member is moved to the extended position. 

1. A wire setting device for solderless quick-connect terminals comprising: a. An elongated housing having a flat surface at one end thereof, b. at least one reciprocable member arranged in said housing for slidable, normal movement through said surface, c. power means for moving said member from a retracted position within said housing to a position having one end extended beyond said surface, d. the extendable end of said reciprocable member being bifurcated for straddling portion of a terminal when moved to the extended position, and e. means for holding a wire across the bifurcated end of said member whereby when the flat surface is seated against the end of the terminal and the member is moved to the extended position the wire will be inserted into the terminal to provide a solderless connection.
 2. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein two reciprocable members are mounted in said body.
 3. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein four reciprocable members are mounted in said body.
 4. A wire setting device according to claim 3 wherein said four reciprocable members are arranged in two pairs.
 5. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein said holding means includes a bore in one leg of said bifurcated end, said bore being sized to fit the wire so that the wire can be inserted therein and bent across said bifurcated end.
 6. A wire setting device according to claim 1 wherein said power means includes a piston-cylinder means and a power source, said power source being controllably connected to said piston-cylinder means for actuating said means.
 7. A wire setting device according to claim 1 which further includes means for limiting the slidable movement of the member whereby the wire is inserted a predetermined distance into the terminal when the member is moved to the extended position. 